Located in Baltimore off the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore's Inner Harbor is one of America's oldest seaports dating from the 1600s. The harbor was completely transformed starting in the 1970s and is considered one of the most successful urban renewal projects in the US. The redevelopment was conceived by Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and Robert C. Embry, Commissioner of Housing and Community Development, who championed the idea of an aquarium as a vital component of Baltimore's overall Inner Harbor redevelopment. The harbor now includes a promenade around the water's edge that leads past the Baltimore Maritime Museum, National Aquarium in Baltimore, Harborplace (a mall) and The Gallery, Maryland Science Center and other sights.